


Hvergelmir

by Marzipanda



Series: Laying New Foundations [1]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Avengers: Infinity War Part 1 (Movie) Compliant, Canon-Typical Violence, Fix-It, Gen, Loki died but he's back now, Post-Avengers: Infinity War Part 1 (Movie), Prisoner Loki (Marvel)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-16
Updated: 2018-08-25
Packaged: 2019-06-28 11:00:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 9,710
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15705891
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Marzipanda/pseuds/Marzipanda
Summary: A year after the Snap, the fight against Thanos was won. The Infinity Gauntlet used to bring everyone he had killed on that day back to life, but there was a small problem. Loki had come back too, and nobody knew what to do with him, least of all himself.This is the first part of a multific series.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hvergelmir is the bubbling boiling spring, one of the three springs that feeds the roots of Yggdrasil. It is said to be a more terrible place than even the worst afterlife, as it is a pit of countless snakes where the dragon Nidhogg torments the bodies of the dead.
> 
> Briefly wanted to say that yes I know there is weird timeline stuff, and the end credit scene of Ragnarok makes it look like they were on the Statesman for like half an hour before Thanos attacked, but I wanted to go by the general rule that the Marvel Universe goes by and say that the movies happen in their universe roughly when they happen in our time. So, by that logic, they were on the ship for five months. In my interpretation, Thor and Loki still had that conversation but Thanos’s ship didn’t show up immediately afterward. Also, this is set in May of 2019 so that’s an interesting fact.

A monstrous purple face swam in front of his own, indistinct and ugly and  _ mocking _ him as he kicked wildly in the open air. He was pathetically weak and helpless in the titan’s grasp. If he could only get a  _ breath _ … He could feel himself dying, his vision tunneling and his strength leaving him, but if he could only get a  _ breath _ ...

There was a sickening crack, and then nothing.

* * *

Loki woke, gasping, watery eyes darting wildly in search of the mad titan. His neck throbbed where the man had wrapped his hand around his throat, but he could breathe. The acrid smell of burnt flesh singed his nostrils. When his vision cleared, he realized he was alone and in some sort of pit, the sides of it gently sloping down to meet him. The source of the smell also became evident. His leather armor was burnt and cracked, and when he moved bits of it broke off, fluttering to the ground beneath him. What was even stranger was that his hands showed no evidence of being burnt at all.

He tried to rise to his feet, but a wave of dizziness overcame him and he fell gracelessly back on his ass. A cloud of dust rose, settling in a fine coat over him. The pit was made of unstable pulverized rock, and a few jagged pebbles broke free to fall down onto his head. Sighing, he resigned himself to the fact that he’d have to crawl out.

The crumbled stone couldn’t hold his weight at all. It gave way beneath him, showering more rocks on him from above and dragging him back down. He fought against it, scrambling to resist the tide. He didn’t know how long it took him, but finally, he grabbed onto something solid and hauled himself onto it.

From the rim of the pit, Loki could see that it was in a massive expanse of shattered stone. It appeared to be an impact crater. That would explain his charred clothes, but not why he was entirely uninjured despite falling hard enough to break the rock.

Glancing up, he only saw an empty blue sky. He scanned the landscape, searching for anything that could help him. There were no people, no animals, and no plants in any direction; just an endless expanse of stone. It looked, for all intents and purposes, like a dead planet. Perhaps that is why he was alive, he thought and winced. Thanos had left him here to starve.

This time when he clambered to his feet, he managed to not fall over. If him dying here was what Thanos wanted, then he had underestimated Loki’s tenacity. There were secret pathways between worlds, and in his time he had located a great number of them. If there was one on this planet, he would damn well find it.

Closing his eyes, he focused on sensing magic, trying to feel for any folds or dips in reality. The fact that this place was so barren would actually make it easier because there was no background buzz of life to distract him. Now he just needed to concentrate.

A small part of his mind wondered what had happened to Thor, and like that his focus was shattered. He huffed and tried to focus again, but now he had thought of it he couldn’t push it away. Of course his brother could distract him even if he was dead.

He shoved his hand through his greasy hair, tugging on the ends. He couldn’t tell himself he didn’t care anymore, not when he had given up the Tesseract the second his brother started screaming. Had that even been for anything? There was no way to tell if Thor had survived, but given the fate of the rest of the Statesman, it seemed unlikely. He viciously kicked a stone into the pit.

Thor had been alive the last time Loki had seen him. Reminding himself that he hadn’t seen the oaf die made it easier to breathe, and he hated himself for it. Hadn’t he pointed out, time and again, that Thor wasn’t his brother? Hadn’t he tried to kill him himself? He was being a sentimental fool. Regardless, the thought that Thor might have somehow survived by sheer pigheadedness was a small comfort, and he allowed himself to dwell on it before trying to find a pathway again.

There was a strange twist in reality somewhere far to his left, and Loki steeled himself for a long hike. 

* * *

It was eight days before Loki stumbled upon somewhere familiar, and another three before he reached a portal he knew led to Midgard.

Loki knelt in front of the passage, staring. It wasn’t really much to look at. There were no swirling rainbow lights or other visual indicators that it lead to another realm. It just looked like a cliff face in the middle of the woods of Alfheim. He had found this place when he was a child, but hadn’t made much use of it before now.

If anyone knew where his brother was, it would be the people of Earth. That was where Thor had been headed last. There was, of course, the small problem that he had not endeared himself to the local population. The worst part was that second-rate sorcerer, who had beaten him so thoroughly and quickly that he hadn’t even caught his name. Ever since he realized he would need to return to that damned place, he’d been trying to think of some better way to cloak himself.

In his youth, Loki had mainly focused on finding a way to hide from Heimdall’s eyes, but that focus most likely had left weaknesses elsewhere. This time he would be prepared. He had hidden himself in every way he knew, using a significant portion of his power to make sure that no one could possibly detect him. Even if that failed, the last time he had been on Earth it had taken the sorcerer a few minutes to spot him. He just had to be quick.

He took a deep breath. It would be fine. He would find his brother, and he would be  _ alive _ . No one would even know he was there, and then he’d be gone.

He stepped through to Midgard.

There was no ground on the other side.

Loki tumbled, disoriented, through the ring of sparks and onto the highly polished floor below.

“And there he is,” the voice of the sorcerer said. Loki’s eyes snapped to him just as the man hurled a strange metal contraption in his direction.

It latched onto him where it struck, then unfolded along the rest of his body, down his legs, and up to his face. The device grabbed and twisted. Loki strained to fight it, but despite its creaks and groans it still managed to make him kneel. It brought his hands straight behind him, straining them to their limit and removing all leverage. It held him so tightly that it was nigh impossible to squirm. He cast his eyes around wildly and realized that not only had he been caught by this bastard again, but it seemed he was friends with the Avengers if standing right next to Tony Stark was any indication.

This was a nightmare.

“Is that...is that Loki?” a young sounding voice asked from nearby.

“Yeah, it is,” Tony said, glancing at him over Loki’s head. “Look, Spidey, maybe you should-”

“I assure you it’s fine,” the sorcerer said. “Trust me, I can handle him.”

Loki spat a choice few things from behind the mask.

“Uh huh,” the sorcerer said, barely sparing him a glance. His attention was on Tony Stark.

“Remember when I went over all the possible outcomes of the fight against Thanos, and how there was only one where we won? I looked a little farther past the endgame, and-”

It looked like Stark was barely listening. He had the countenance of a man who was considering murder, and all his focus was trained on Loki. He could barely twitch, let alone defend himself, and he suspected that since Thor hadn’t made himself known yet he wasn’t around to save him. He knew, on some level, that he should be terrified, but after all he had been through it just made him furious.

He clenched his hands into fists and repelled everything away from him with the force of his rage. He heard several things shatter, saw some of the Avengers stumble, but only heard one person fall. Damn.

“Did you really think that would work?” the sorcerer asked, raising an eyebrow. Loki wanted very badly to bury a knife in his chest.

“As I was saying, I checked the future after we defeated Thanos-” Loki stared at him in disbelief. The two strongest Avengers had been with Loki, on the ship, and they had barely been able to slow Thanos down. He had been assuming all this time that it was some hitherto unknown, extremely powerful entity that had defeated him. Perhaps someone like Hela.

“Oh, yes, you didn’t know about that.” the sorcerer said. “I saw myself forgetting this, but then I forgot about that.”

“Sounds annoying,” Captain America said from somewhere behind Loki. He hadn’t even known Rogers was here. It made the back of his neck prickle.

“It is,” the sorcerer confirmed. “Regardless, it wasn’t that important. Yes, we defeated Thanos.”

Loki wished he could ask more. The sorcerer rolled his eyes and stepped closer. He reached towards Loki’s face, but instead of gouging out his eyes or something similar he removed the part covering Loki’s mouth.

“Please tell me he’s dead,” he said in a rush, not bothering to mask his fear.

Stark snorted. “What, not a big fan of your boss?”

Ah, so they knew about that. It didn’t bode well, given the way Stark was glaring at him. Loki picked his words carefully.

“I...wasn’t particularly happy to be working for him, no."

“Really? Because last time you were here, you didn’t seem that upset.”

“That’s because I wasn’t,” Loki said casually. Stark narrowed his eyes, his expression growing even darker. “I was happy to be away from that madman.”

“Ha!” One of the surrounding people said, “That’s rich, coming from you.” The man was in a red and black suit, with a silver helmet that tapered down to a point above his mouth.

“I’m sorry, who are you?”

“Ant-Man!” he declared, crossing his arms over his chest.

Loki blinked at him, and then a grin crept onto his face. “Did you willingly call yourself that? Are the Avengers recruiting insects now?” He focused on the rest of the group, picking out people he hadn’t seen before. “Who are you? Beetle?” He asked the odd-looking man with the red face. “I guess that makes you Moth Man.” He told the stranger with wings. “And...” He could now turn his neck just enough to see some of the people behind him and instantly lost his levity. “Banner!”

Loki was surprised at how glad he to see him alive.

“Hi, Loki,” Banner said, uncomfortably fiddling with his hands.

“Banner. Is Thanos dead?” It hurt like hell to twist his neck like this, his bruised flesh pressing against the contraption as his craned his head back. “I honestly don’t know if you remember anything that happened, but he came for  _ me _ . If he isn’t dead, he’ll come again, so if you want to execute me you’d better do it quickly.”

“I thought he had come for the Tesseract,” Banner said to a point above Loki’s head.

“He would have come anyway. Granted, maybe not at that exact time, but I had lost him an infinity stone. Is he dead?”

Banner finally met his eyes. “Yes. He’s dead.”

Tension flooded from Loki so quickly that he felt lightheaded. “Thank you,” he said, and it came out as a whisper. Then, before he could be interrupted again, he asked the question he had come to Earth to have answered. “Is Thor alive?”

“Yeah, uh, he’s in space right now. He got a message a couple days ago from Valkyrie so he went to meet her and the rest of the refugees?”

“Oh.” Loki could feel his eyes getting wet. It was ridiculous. After everything he had done, after all the poisonous words he had spat in the face of Thor and Odin, he wanted to weep with relief that his brother and his people were safe. He wasn’t even Asgardian. Blinking rapidly, he focused instead on the floor. He could feel this later when he wasn’t surrounded by enemies.

Strange started speaking again. “As I was saying, once Thanos was defeated, the Infinity Gauntlet was used to bring everyone who he killed that day back to life. That included Loki.”

Spider-Man spoke up again. “Loki was killed in the Snap?”

“No. He was killed before that. Regardless, he’s back now.”

Banner cleared his throat. “Anyway. Doctor Strange? You were saying that you looked at the future? I imagine you were going to say you saw Loki coming.”

“Yes, but there’s a bit more to it than that.”

“You wanna share with the class?” Stark asked. “Why exactly did you dump him in the middle of my facility?”

Strange shrugged. “It was the safest place to put him.”

“You’ve only been alive for ten days and you’re already a pain in my ass.” Stark closed his eyes, pinching the bridge of his nose. After a moment it seemed like he had a sudden thought. “What do you expect me to do with him?”

“Thor would no doubt be grateful if I was returned to him,” Loki said, tilting his head to the side. “You are...friends, are you not?”

“No, nope, I’ll stop you right there. You,”  he said, jabbing a finger in Loki’s direction, “do not get a say in this. You’re not part of the discussion. You don’t even get to listen.” Stark glared at him, but then shifted back and addressed the room at large. “Wanna move this to the meeting room?”

“You’re not going to leave me here, are you?” Loki said to Stark’s turned back. “That strikes me as incredibly unwise.”

“Of course not,” Strange cut in. “Please do remember that it is still entirely within our ability to subdue you,” he said as he pressed something near Loki’s chest.

The contraption let go and Loki fell flat on his face. He began to sit up as he heard the assorted sounds of weapons being raised.

“Dude, what did you just do?” Spider-Man asked, his voice going high.

“Don’t move,” Stark had turned around, his repulsors aiming directly for Loki’s head. 

“Yeah, what he said!” Ant-Man yelled.

Loki sat cross-legged on the floor and held still. He wished he could do something else, but they all had eyes on him so illusions wouldn’t hide his real body, and he did not like the odds of a straight fight.

“Show me your hands, please,” the sorcerer said, calm as ever. Loki shot him a look but complied. “Good. Now I’m going to put these on you,” he said, pulling out a pair of handcuffs. “Hold still.”

Loki watched as the cold metal encircled his wrists. At least it was better than that full-body restraint.

“Stand up,” Strange commanded.

“Stop giving me orders,” Loki said, but stood up anyway because he didn’t want to stay on the floor.

“Of course, your highness,” he said. “Stark, I’d ask if you have a room to put him in but I know you do and I know where it is. I’ll join you all soon.”

Loki took the opportunity to see who was gathered around them. All of the original Avengers sans his brother were present, as well as the unfamiliar faces he’d already noted, a skinny youth in a red costume that he assumed was Spider-Man, a dark-haired woman, and Colonel Rhodes.

He couldn’t help but think that if the Avengers had beaten him before when they were disorganized and fewer in number, then now he was really screwed.


	2. Chapter 2

Strange walked briskly through the halls as Loki trailed behind by a few paces. Usually being alone with an unguarded enemy might be an opportunity, but with Strange knowing the future he had very little clue what kind of traps might be waiting for him. He had next to no measure of the man.

“So. Doctor Strange. How exactly did you end up calling yourself that?”

The sorcerer glanced back at him. “It’s my name. Doctor Stephen Strange.”

“Ah.” Loki took a moment to consider that. “I must admit, I don’t quite understand human naming conventions. I take it that neither of your parents were Strange?”

“Well, that’s a matter of opinion.” Strange slowed his pace a little to walk beside him. “In all seriousness, Strange is my family name from my father’s side. My mother took it as well when she married him.”

“So Strange is a clan?”  
“Not exactly, but you’re not too far off.”

“Hm. I suppose it makes sense, given how much humans breed and die.” His mouth twitched upwards. “It must be hard to keep track of all your...honorable relatives.”

“And here I thought we were having a nice conversation,” Strange said flatly. “Anyway, this is your stop.” He waved at a plain white door and it swung open.

The room was a decent size. There was a bed, a desk, and a chair, all in muted colors that matched the few pieces of art. A row of small windows lined one of the walls at eye height, but it seemed to overlook another part of the compound, albeit one with glass ceilings so they still let in natural light.

“Those are reinforced, by the way. I wouldn’t bother,” Strange said.

Loki hummed. “This is a nicer cell than I had last time I was here.”

“It’s not a cell, it’s a bedroom,” Strange corrected, and then his expression grew more serious. “I have some advice for you, Loki Odinson.”

“It must be important if you’ve evoked my full name, Doctor Stephen Strange,” he said, and his mouth quirked up at the corner.

“I’d like to preface it by saying that I do not like you. I’m not saying this for your benefit, but your brother’s.”  
Loki sat himself on the bed. “Do go on.”

“Thor and the Asgardian refugees have already been given permission to settle on Earth. Stark already purchased a large piece of land for it. However, after your little stunt in New York, not everyone is happy about aliens living on this planet, especially Asgardians and especially  _ you _ .”

“Yes, I’ve gathered that I’m not very well liked. What’s your point?”

“You count as an Asgardian refugee, but if you join them then New Asgard will have no peace. I think you already know that Thor would allow you to stay, but the nations that allowed its founding will accuse your new home of harboring a war criminal. Thor will interpret that as them going back on their agreement to let them live on Earth. Let me assure you that it will not end pretty.”

Loki’s face split into a manic grin. “That sounds exciting.”

Strange didn’t flinch. “Look, I know you have a reputation to keep up as Asgard’s biggest douchebag, but I know you care about your brother. The fact of the matter is that it’d be easier for him if you...didn’t happen to be around.” The last part was heavy with implication.

“Are you suggesting that I kill myself?”

“Why would you jump to that conclusion?” Strange asked. “Regardless, I have to join up with the others.” He started creating a portal, and Loki watched him closely.

“See you later,” he said, then he stepped through the portal and was gone.

Loki stared at where he had disappeared for a moment, then lay back on the bed, studying the ceiling. Like hell he’d do anything the sorcerer wanted him to, but he had brought up an interesting point. He had a feeling his past self would see this moment as perfect for seeding chaos, but now just the thought of it was exhausting. At the moment, he didn’t have the energy for murder and betrayal. Perhaps it was a holdover from being dead.

He realized he had no long-term goals, especially not ones that could be furthered by him destroying Asgard  _ again _ . Taking the throne for the third time didn’t suit him, attacking Earth would get him killed, and at this point destroying Jotunheim was much more trouble than it was worth. If he was honest with himself, what he wanted was to be around Thor, but it wasn’t worth another Asgardian slaughter.

He took a deep breath. He could distance himself from his brother until a few generations of humans had passed and the hatred for him had faded. It was probably the most sensible option, but it was also the one he wanted to take least. There was a myriad of places to go in the universe, but none appealed to him. Seeing Thor felt more urgent. It shouldn’t have, now that Loki knew for certain that he was alive, but he needed to be by his side.

There was a way to do it. Back on the Statesman, Loki had tried to think of something to appease the people of Earth when they finally reached it. There weren’t very many options. He could, perhaps, stage some sort of massive disaster and play the part of a hero, but that plan didn’t turn out well the first time he tried it and being found out was too much of a risk. He could wait for a real disaster to happen but there was no guarantee he’d be a significant enough help for them to forgive him. He could wear a disguise, but Thor would ruin that instantly. No, the most viable option was to hand himself over to the Avengers.

He had been brought here against his will, but admittedly it would make carrying out that plan easier. Loki could rely on Thor’s friendship and allegiance with Earth’s heroes to protect him, at least to a certain extent. Beyond that, they had the trust and respect of the entire planet. If he could become their prisoner specifically, the people of Earth might be appeased. It would be easy for Thor to visit him. It was not the most appealing of arrangements, but it would get him what he wanted. Now all he needed was to convince the Avengers that this was the best deal for them as well. 

* * *

Getting drunk was probably not the thing to do in this situation, but Tony would be lying if he said he didn’t want to. He thought he had seen the last of Loki seven years ago. Three years ago Thor had told them his brother had died. Now he had actually died but was back and in his facility. The man was like a cockroach.

He flung himself into a chair and tried not to sulk. “Why is it that this guy always winds up in my buildings?” he complained to the group at large.

“I do not think twice is enough to indicate a pattern,” Vision pointed out.

“Thanks, Viz. Real helpful,” he sighed. “We just got done with Thanos and now we have to deal with his errand boy?”

“At least we already know we can beat him,” Steve said. His voice was steady and confident. Usually, that tone would annoy the hell out of Tony, but right now he needed to hear it. Things were still awkward between them, especially now Bucky was alive again, but at least Steve was reliable and Bucky was currently in Wakanda. He let himself exhale slowly.

“On the bright side, maybe Thor will stop being so depressing. Maybe he’ll actually smile, y’know, convincingly.”

Steve frowned. “He lost everything-”

“I know. I know! I want him to be happy again. I just wish making him happy didn’t involve Loki.” Tony glanced next to him, where his protege was fidgeting. “Spidey, I can tell you’re dying to say something, so just say it.”

Peter looked bashful for about a second before he launched into his line of questioning. “What was it like? Fighting him the first time? And, uh, what should I look out for? I want to be prepared.”

Tony took a deep breath. “Right, like half you guys haven’t even met this douchebag before.” He paused, looking for the right words. “Let’s start with what you guys already know. I forget what they did and didn’t say on the news, so...Spidey, you were like ten at the time, do you remember anything?”

“I remember he threw you out a window! There was video of it, from the people on the streets, and you suited up just before you hit the ground which was really cool, but uh besides that I know he opened up a portal to space and these big, like, monster things came through.” Peter slowed down. “I could see it from my house, actually. It was far away, but I could see it.”

Tony patted him on the back. “Ok. All that was more Loki-adjacent, but I’ll take it. Were there any reports on his powers, or any of the things that happened in Germany?”

“I know he threatened to kill a Holocaust survivor,” Ant-Man said. “And then Captain America showed up right in the nick of time to save him!”

“Oh boy. The reports were mostly about us, weren’t they?”

“Yeah, mostly,” Spider-Man agreed. “I know you just said he was Thanos’s errand boy too, and I didn’t want to interrupt, but I’m dying for you to explain that.”

Tony waved a hand at Bruce. “You’re the one who told me, and what you told me was that he invaded Earth on Thanos’s orders. Got anything else to add?”

“Uh, a little. I mean, I was...riding backseat when I learned most of this, so I don’t remember it all perfectly, but I knew Loki was scared shitless of the guy. Thanos showed up, in his big ugly ship, and nobody knew who he was except Loki. He started running around, yelling, telling everyone that they had to leave, and when we asked him what was going on he said, basically, ‘That’s Thanos and he’s the one that sent me to Earth, he’s even crazier than I am.’” Bruce rubbed his temples. “Then...it gets fuzzy, but after that I remember Loki had the Tesseract and was handing it to him and Thanos was saying some...mean things.” He looked sheepish. “I don’t remember what they were, but the Hulk thought they were mean. Then Loki actually mentioned the Hulk and I took that as my cue to smash something.”

“Loki?” Peter asked, leaning forward expectantly.

“What? No, no. Thanos. I had a fistfight with Thanos.”

Tony whistled. “One on one? How did that go?”

Bruce rubbed the back of his neck. “I lasted about half a minute.”

“Wow, you must’ve been really pissed off.” Tony grinned at him.

He stopped smiling when Bruce’s neck flushed slightly green. “Tony, I know I haven’t told you this, but a lot of people died. They were all around, everywhere. You couldn’t move without stepping on the corpse of someone I had been travelling with for months, so yeah, I was pretty angry. I still am.” He sighed. “If Thanos had killed one of the kids, I don’t think you’d ever have seen Bruce Banner again.”

“Kids?” Natasha asked.

“Yeah, the kids. They-”

A golden portal opened up in the middle of the room. “See you later,” Strange called behind him, and he let the portal close.

“Strange,” Tony said, focused again on the situation at hand. Before he could start asking questions, Stephen held up a finger.

“I am waiting for the outcome I want to come up naturally. If I tell you outright what my plan is beforehand, it will be coercive. Now, Doctor Banner, you were telling us about the Asgardian children?”

“Uh, right,” Bruce said. He glanced at Tony, but the man rolled his eyes and waved at him to continue. “Well, have I told you about Hela? Thor’s crazy sister?” He looked around the room and got a few nods from the people who hadn’t died in the Snap. “Ok, basically, she was the worst. She killed a bunch of Asgardians and is the reason Asgard the planet doesn’t exist anymore. I mean, Loki was the one who blew it up, but-”

Tony shot to his feet, tapping his chest so that his armor started to unfold. Spider-Man scrambled to follow him. Others rose from their chairs, expressions varying from shocked to angry as Tony made for the door.

“Tony, wait!” Bruce called, catching his arm. “I’m not done talking!”

Tony glared but didn’t shrug him off. “I’m gonna kill him. He blew up his  _ own planet _ ? I’m gonna kill him.”

“If he had actually killed anybody by doing it, believe me, I would be tearing his limbs off myself!” Bruce said, tugging him back to his chair. “Hela was crazy strong, we had to do it to kill her. Her life force was connected to Asgard or something.” Tony let himself be dragged but didn’t sit down. “He brought a ship so everyone could be evacuated beforehand. Seriously, I know it’s hard to believe, but in a way he kind of saved everyone’s lives.”

“By blowing up his own planet,” Tony said darkly.

“By blowing up his own planet, yes.”

“And here I was hoping for an excuse to put an arrow through his eye,” Hawkeye said, half serious.

Natasha leaned forward, meeting eyes with Bruce. “What does this have to do with children?”

“All of the warriors who tried to defend the planet from Hela died, so the ship mostly had the Asgardian equivalent of civilians on it. It was mostly farmers, metalworkers, historians and yes, children.” Bruce waved a hand through the air. “I mean, children is debatable since a decent amount of them were older than me, but still. They and their parents were the first to be evacuated from the ship, too. People without children fought so they could escape.”

“I see,” Natasha said. “I’m glad they survived, but wouldn’t that mean that a large portion of the people coming with Thor to settle New Asgard is underage gods?”

“Thor did not mention that,” Tony said. “I guess I have to revise my plans for the place.”

Peter cleared his throat. “Uh, sorry, but can we go back to when I asked you what Loki could do? Blowing up planets isn’t his superpower, is it?”

“No, no.” Bruce said, “He put a magic crown into a fire and it grew into this huge fiery demon that stabbed the planet until it exploded.”

“Uh...did you make that sound as crazy as possible on purpose?”

“There was no saner way to say that,” Bruce said with a small smile. “Everything happening was crazy. Like, after I was finished fighting this undead wolf thing by knocking it off the edge of the world, I climbed onto the rainbow bridge and punched that fire monster in the face until Thor told me to stop and let it destroy the planet.” He paused for a second. “I honestly don’t know if I’m saying never go on an adventure with Thor, or always go on an adventure with Thor.”

“Noted,” Spider-Man said.

“To answer your question, Loki can create illusions. He mostly makes copies of himself, but you can test if they’re real by throwing things at him. He also...Thor said he turned into a snake once, but he’s never done it in front of us, so I don’t know what that’s about.” Bruce looked around the table. “It’s weird, right? You’d think that’d be a useful thing to know how to do, and he’s never done it.”

“It’s not like he could have escaped the helicarrier by turning into a snake,” Natasha pointed out.

“No, but he did use it to get the drop on Thor when they were kids.”

“Anyway,” Doctor Strange said, cutting them off. “Loki also has a copious amount of knives. He seems to prefer them, but he’s also been trained to use swords, axes, spears, and laser weaponry.”

“Laser weaponry?” Peter asked, surprised.

“Space guns.”

“No, I...I could guess what it was, I just was surprised ‘cause he’s a viking.”

“I know.”

Tony sighed. “Okay, so back on topic, what’s Loki up to now that Thanos isn’t around?”

“What do you mean?” Bruce asked. “I don’t think he’s been working for Thanos since New York.”

Tony frowned at him. “Did you, or did you not, just say that Loki was handing the Tesseract to Thanos, surrounded by corpses, before you broke up their little rendezvous?”

“Well, yeah, but...” Bruce frowned. “There was...there was a reason, I swear. It’s like trying to remember a dream.”

“Where was Thor?” Doctor Strange prompted.

Bruce looked over at him, then his eyes widened like he was having an epiphany. “Oh, that’s right!” he cried. “Thor was beaten by that Squidward guy, I think, and Thanos was threatening to kill him if Loki didn’t give him the cube!” He turned back to Tony. “Ha!”

Natasha leaned towards him. “Bruce, I’m sorry to point this out, but you’re being disturbingly pro-Loki at the moment.”

“I’m going to stop this argument before it starts,” Strange said. “I’ve already listened to it, and it doesn’t get us anywhere. I assure you he is not being magically influenced by Loki. Loki just hasn’t done anything particularly evil lately and has a soft spot for his own people. Would you like to know why he came here?”

“To blow up the planet?” Spider-Man asked morosely.

“No. He came here to find his brother. His parents died, his home was destroyed, and his people slaughtered twice in front of him.” He waited a moment for that to sink in. “Loki is not unaffected. Thor is the last remnant of Loki’s old life, and he is homesick.”

“Wait, so all we’re doing here is preventing him from rejoining his brother?” Captain America asked. “We handed him over to the Asgardians after New York so he could be judged and sentenced by his own people. I don’t see what’s changed.”

“You’re technically correct. Thor Odinson, who is recognized as a sovereign king, has already been given permission to rebuild his country on Earth. I believe you helped arrange that, Stark. Furthermore, Loki is an Asgardian and, per the terms of the agreement, should be subject to Asgardian justice.”

“So what’s the problem?” Stark asked. “He wants to go back to his brother, yeah, but I like to think I’m not petty enough to keep that from happening.”

“Loki hasn’t done anything particularly evil lately,” Strange said gravely and waited for the room to realize what he meant.

Natasha was the first to speak. She leaned forward, resting her elbows on the table. “You’re saying Thor would pardon Loki of all crimes. He’d be a free man.”

“Undoubtedly. The people of Asgard are also in the process of forgiving him. After all, he hasn’t killed any  _ Asgardians _ and he appeared in their time of need. They wouldn’t object to Thor’s judgment.”

“Well, I damn well would!” Tony said, slamming a fist into the table. “I can’t believe...did Thor  _ know _ ? When I was helping him speak to the nations of Earth, was he thinking of how to get his brother off scot-free? After everything Loki’s done-”

“And therein lies our problem.” Strange sighed. “The people of Earth feel the same as you do. Almost as immediately after being founded, the new Asgard would be mired in political tension. I assure you, it would not end well.”

“You don’t think Thor would let Loki stay in jail?” Spider-Man asked. “Even after everything?”

Steve turned to him. “Regardless of his reasoning, Thor admitted that last time he only left Loki in prison for a year. That was when he was still furious with him.”

“Wait, a year?” Spider-Man gaped. “Where was he the rest of the time?”

“Ruling Asgard,” Bruce said. “Pretending to be Odin. Thor mentioned something about him writing plays.”

“Are you serious?” Spider-Man asked, and for the first time he sounded angry. His hands were twitching like he wanted to punch something.

Bruce shot him a smile that didn’t reach his eyes. “Yeah. I know. It’s why we can’t just give him to Thor.”

Natasha’s eyebrows furrowed. “Thor doesn’t back down. It’s a great trait in an ally, but not so much when we disagree. I don’t know about you boys, but I don’t want another civil war on our hands.”

“Just a suggestion,” Strange said, “but maybe you should talk to Loki himself about this.”

“‘ _ Just a suggestion _ ’,” Stark muttered under his breath. “How long until your future knowledge runs out? Is it soon?”

“I’m going to ignore that,” Strange said. “Should I open the portal now, or do any of you need to take a break? Stretch your legs? Get a drink? No? Good.”

The golden portal span open, revealing the interior of the bedroom again. Loki sat up on the bed, suspiciously squinting through to the other room.

“Get in here dipshit, we need to talk to you,” Strange said.

Loki considered criticizing his language for a moment but realized it would probably just encourage him. He slid off the bed and onto his feet, then strode cautiously through the sparks.

“I must say I’m surprised you let me walk under my own power this time,” he said as the portal closed behind him.

Strange shrugged. “It got old.”

“So, the new Asgard,” Loki began. “I assume that  _ is _ what you want to talk about?”

Stark glared at him. “How do you know about New Asgard?”

“I told him,” Strange said.

“It seems the doctor is playing us against each other,” Loki said, watching him. Strange looked like he was barely listening to the conversation, waiting for the next opportunity to steer it. Loki flicked his eyes back to Stark. “Shall we compare notes?”

Stark focused on Strange. “Why would you tell him?”

“I believe it was because our interests align in this instance,” Loki answered for him. “And I have come up with a solution, which he no doubt knew I would.”

“What, that we make you supreme king of Earth?”

“No,” Loki said. “I think I’ve had my fill of being a king. One can only eat so many grapes, after all.” Stark grit his teeth, and Loki grinned in response. “Did you know about that? I think, perhaps, you thought that I was being held in some horrible dungeon all this time, suffering Asgardian justice. I hate to break that illusion.”

“Are we sure I can’t just shoot him?” Hawkeye asked. “We could hide the body. Thor would never know he was here.”

“I take it you’re still angry about the last time we met.”

“What gave it away?”

Bruce cut in. “Okay, okay, this isn’t getting us anywhere. Let’s just...Loki, you said you had a solution?”

“I did.” Loki squared his shoulders. “It’s very simple. Take me as your prisoner.”

Stark’s eyebrows raised, and he turned to glance back at the rest of the Avengers. “Correct me if I’m wrong, but I think we already did that.”

Loki closed his eyes and took a deep breath before continuing. “You’ve captured me. That’s different. I’m suggesting you keep me.”

The thought seemed to make the Avengers as uncomfortable as it made him. Stark opened his mouth to object, so he said the rest of his argument in a rush.

“I’m already here. If you turn me over to anyone else, there will be consequences you are no doubt aware of. Therefore, remaining is the easiest solution.”

“Absolutely not,” Stark said. “I live here.” After a second he waved down at the rest of the table. “And they live here.”

“That’s the point, Stark.” He did his best to not sound condescending. “You’re the Avengers. Thor will trust you not to kill me and the people of Earth, if they find out, will trust that you can keep me in check. New Asgard can be founded peacefully.”

“What, you think you can just hang around my home, partying it up like you did on Asgard?” He was almost growling and looked as if he was ready to strike. “After everything you’ve done?”

“I would’ve thought that being forced to be in your presence would be punishment enough,” he spat. The two men glared at each other until Loki schooled his features and spoke in a more neutral tone.

“Look, I know you hate me. I hate the lot of you as well,” he said, his eyes briefly flicking to Banner, “but I was under the impression that the main problem was how this all would look to my brother and your people. Short of faking my own death, it’s the best lie we could tell them. It might even appease the people who don’t like Asgardians at all because you will have a prince as a hostage. I don’t expect the stay to be pleasant for me. As for your own comfort, well.” His eyes scanned the room at large. “Aren’t heroes supposed to be all about self-sacrifice?”

“Fuck that,” Stark said. “Fuck that in every possible way, and fuck you.”

“Would you at least consider it?”

“No.”

“Tony...” Bruce trailed off.

“No! My house, my rules, and the only Norse god allowed in here is Thor. Hawkeye, tell me more about this plan to shoot him?”

“You’re being very unreasonable,” Loki said smoothly, but internally he was beginning to worry. He didn’t think the Avengers would kill him, but they could certainly throw him out. Thor would be busy establishing his new city and wouldn’t have time to go on frequent jaunts off-planet. Loki had thought that wouldn’t happen because they wouldn’t want him to go free, but now it wasn’t so certain.

“Are you still afraid of me?” Loki asked. When someone was resisting his schemes, it never hurt to insult their pride. At least, it wasn’t his schemes that ended up getting hurt.

Stark stepped closer to him, crowding into his space. “I’m not scared of you.”

“Why did you put on the armor, then? Afraid I’d hurt you? Afraid I’d try and take the planet?” he scoffed. “You don’t have to worry about that anymore. I only came here for the first time to vex my brother.”

He should have seen the fist coming. 


	3. Chapter 3

Loki stumbled back and collapsed into the wall. It was extremely cathartic to watch. Tony hadn’t exactly meant to lash out like that, but he didn’t feel an abundance of guilt. If Loki was going to show up after everything and act like he was a threat then yeah, he deserved it. He was half tempted to punch the smug asshole again, except he was distracted when green light swept over Loki’s skin.

The illusion of Loki from New York faded away, his gold and green armor dissolving into nothing. It left behind a man who was dirty and exhausted.

His hair was a disheveled mess. He still had some armor on, but it was filthy and worn and his boots were missing. He was injured as well; covered in scrapes and cuts, but the worst damage was a dark purple bruise that covered all of his neck and even some of the underside of his jaw. Even beyond that, when he steadied himself enough to look up at Tony again, his eyes were colored with popped blood vessels in the whites and a tinge of fear.

The grinning maniac he had met before had never been afraid. Even when they found him pulling himself out of the crater the Hulk had smashed him into, he had made a quip. Stark lowered his hand.

“What was that?” Peter asked, standing up to get a better view. “Is that an illusion?”

“Nah. He’s too much of a diva. This must be what he really looks like.”

Loki still looked disoriented. He clumsily clawed at the wall to push himself more upright, and his eyes darted around the room but didn’t seem to focus on anything. Tony waved a hand in front of his face to check and Loki flinched back, squinting at him.

“Oh, Jesus. I think I punched him too hard.” He grabbed the man’s arm and pulled him back towards the table. Loki ineffectually tried to push him away. His movements were uncoordinated and slow so Tony had to support him most of the way until he could drop him onto a chair.

“Hey, can you hear me?” he asked, but his voice lacked any gentleness. Loki kept staring at him, but he didn’t respond.

“Tony,” Steve started, but Stark cut him off.

“Yeah, I know, I shouldn’t have suckerpunched a prisoner.” He ran his hand through his hair.

“No,” Hawkeye chimed in, “No, you totally should have done that.”

Loki groaned, and when Tony looked at him again he seemed to have regained some awareness. “You  _ punched _ me,” he said, his voice weak but indignant.

“Yep,” he said. “How’re you feeling?”

Those terrifying red eyes stared back at him even as Loki shrank away. “Are you going to do it again?”

“Eh, probably not.”

Loki sighed and let his head drop, his eyes screwed shut.

Bruce circled the table to get closer to them. Tony obligingly moved out of the way without having to be asked. “Hey, Loki.” The man looked up at him, squinting. 

“Can I look at your eyes?”

Loki stared at him for a moment, then sighed and shifted to look upwards.

“Aren’t you going to ask why?” Bruce asked, studying his pupils.

“Does it matter?” he said tiredly.

“Well, kind of. I’m figuring out if you have a concussion,” Bruce explained.

“What’s a concussion?”

“A brain injury,” he said, but then when he saw Loki’s reaction quickly amended, “A  _ minor _ brain injury. They happen, they don’t take too long to heal, and anyway I don’t think you have one.” He straightened up, continuing. You still might feel dizzy for a while, maybe nauseous, and more tired than usual until you recover. How fast do Asgardians heal?”

Loki groaned instead of answering. He didn’t want to get into the whole mess that was his heritage now, of all times.

“Uh, by the way, you might want to look at yourself,” Bruce added awkwardly.

Loki looked down, and it took a moment for him to register what he was seeing. His expression darkened and he closed his eyes to concentrate. Green light shone on his skin again and he was restored to a healthier, cleaner, less red-eyed self for several seconds. He blinked in confusion and tried again, and this time it stuck.

“My magic...feels odd,” he said, glaring accusingly at Stark. If he had meant to make Tony feel bad about it, he had failed. Loki without magic was easier to handle.

“It might be because of where you were hit,” Bruce said, side-eying Tony. He threw his hands in the air.

“Yeah, okay, I’d say I’m sorry but I’m not.” He crossed his arms for a moment, then immediately became animated again. “Actually, are you still sure you want to stay here? Because I’d definitely be tempted to punch you every single day.”

“That’s not entirely unexpected,” Loki said sourly, curled in on himself but still meeting his eyes.

“Uh huh,” Stark said. “What’s the plan here? What are you after? There has to be some complicated evil plot here, right?”

Loki grit his teeth. “I just want to see my brother.”

Tony snorted. “That’s hard to believe, given that you tried to kill him, like...three times? Four?”

Loki colored and looked away. Tony couldn’t tell if he was angry or embarrassed.

“I don’t think I did?” he said, and the uncertainty in his voice made it sound like the most honest thing he’d said all day. “I thought I was trying to kill him, of course, but I don’t think I actually was.”

“You’re crazy,” Tony said. “Totally, completely, utterly out of your mind.”

“I’m saying I  _ don’t _ want to kill him anymore!” Loki shouted. “I accept that it was folly. I do not want my brother dead.” His offense soon morphed into something more vulnerable. “The last time I saw my brother, everyone was...” he swallowed and forced the words out. “Asgard was massacred and he had been soundly defeated. I just find it a bit hard to believe that...” he trailed off, fidgeting.

“You think we lied to you?” Stark scoffed. “Are you serious? I thought that was  _ your _ thing.”

“I have been known to be a bit of a pessimist,” Loki said with his usual venom.

Bruce started fiddling with his phone and then held it up to Loki. “Here,” he said. “This is a recent photo. You can tell because his hair’s growing in again.”

Loki looked up and glared at him. “He has two eyes.”

Bruce glanced back at the picture. “Oh, oh right. He got a fake one, look,” he zoomed in on the screen. “The fake one’s brown.”

Loki stared at the picture again, and after a moment he appeared to deflate. “So it is.”

“He’ll be here in a few days,” Bruce said. Loki gave him a small nod.

Bruce turned his phone screen off but kept turning it around in his hands. He glanced up at Tony, who raised an eyebrow.

“I know this is your house, Tony, but...would it be impossible to let him stay for a couple days?”

Tony blew out a breath, turning away. He scratched at his beard, and Bruce shifted awkwardly.

“You have Friday, right? She watches everything, and we could, I dunno, lock him in a room until his brother shows up.”

“Yeah, but...” Tony grimaced. “Even if we did that, honestly? I still feel like he’d find a way to kill us.”

“I don’t want to kill you,” Loki muttered.

“Yeah, see, I don’t believe you.”

“I’m flattered that you think I’m so dangerous.”

“You’re dangerously unstable.”

Loki growled. “Fine. I see I don’t have a choice.”

Tony immediately raised his arms, pointing his repulsors straight at his face.

“Honestly. I’m not going to do anything  _ nefarious _ ,” he said, gazing disdainfully at the weapons. “Not in your presence, anyway.”

Two objects clattered onto the table. Tony spared them a glance and then focused back on Loki.

“No, do look at them,” Loki said, gesturing as well as he could with bound hands.

It was tense for a few moments. Suddenly, Stark glanced away and asked, “Fine. What are they?”

“Insurance,” Loki declared, lifting his chin.

Tony waited for him to elaborate.

“Banner, do you remember anything about the obedience disks?” Loki asked. “The fact that they exist, perhaps?”

Bruce’s eyes widened, looking over the devices again. “You’re not saying that these are those, are you?”

“I am,” Loki said smoothly, but he avoided meeting his eyes.

“You wanna fill me in?” Tony asked, finally lowering his hands.

Loki side eyed him. “I thought the name would make their function clear.” He stared at him for a moment, then huffed and continued. “They can render a person immobile, and cause a great deal of pain besides. The raised circular button on the top turns it on. The other side turns it off. I’d assume you can adjust the intensity of the pain by twisting the circular button, but I can’t say I’ve tested it.”

“Tony, these things were used to subdue Thor,” Bruce said, simultaneously concerned and fascinated. “I mean, I didn’t see it happen, but I heard about it.” Then he snapped his attention to Loki. “Why did you have these?”

“My brother saw fit to leave me with them. Beyond that, I thought that perhaps they could work on our sister.” He shot Bruce a grim smile. “Though, after she took that lightning blast without gaining so much as a scratch it was abundantly obvious that it wouldn’t work.”

“Fair enough.”

Steve, who had been quietly listening for a while, spoke up. “Are you suggesting we use these on you?”

“Precisely, Captain. Even if I did want to hurt you, it’d be difficult if I am unable to move. I am rendered completely harmless.” He faced his hands palm up and spread them as far as he could with the cuffs, then turned back to Tony. “Now, I will ask again. With this on the table, would you reconsider taking me as your prisoner?”

Tony pursed his lips. Time dragged on as he thought about it, but finally, he looked to the room at large. “I’m not the only person who lives here. Let’s put it to a vote.”

“I vote no,” Hawkeye called.

“You don’t live here!” Tony said back. “I’m sorry, but you don’t count.”

“I live here, and I vote no,” Natasha said.

“I vote yes?” Bruce said. “Sorry, Clint.”

“Okay,” Stark said. “Give me a second, I’m going to call Pepper and Happy.”

“Oh god,” Bruce said as Tony dialed. “What are you even going to tell them?”

“I’ll think of something,” he said as the phone rang.

The line clicked and Tony spoke cheerily to the person on the other end. “Hi, Pep. You’re on speaker, I’m just waiting for-” it clicked again, “Happy, hey, you’re both here. Great.”

“Tony?” a female voice asked. “What’s this about?”

“Hypothetically, if, say, a crazed demigod showed up at the facility and given a tangled web of politics it might be the best option for the Avengers to keep him as a prisoner for an indefinite amount of time, would you be willing to have him stay here? Also, in this scenario, he’s wearing a shock collar.”

“I object to being called crazed. I may have been in the past, but I feel it’s inaccurate to call me it at the moment.”

There was silence on the other end of the line.

“Hap? Pepper?”

“Tony. I can’t believe I’m asking this, but is Loki in our house?”

Tony grimaced. “He might be?”

“I am,” Loki said. “Hello.”

“I should not have put you on speaker,” Tony muttered.

“I promise I will endeavor to be pleasant if you do allow me to stay,” Loki said. “I only wish to see my brother, and given that my very presence here can create political turmoil, It seems to be best that I become a prisoner of the Avengers. I hope you find this proposal to be acceptable.”

Pepper took a moment before she spoke. “Is my home being converted to a prison for supervillains? Is that what I’m hearing?”

“Not necessarily? That’s why I called you. I’ve put it to a vote.”

She sighed through the phone line. “Obviously there’s some of this I’m missing. What did everyone else vote?”

“Bruce says yes, Natasha says no, the rest haven’t decided.”

“I have,” Cap said. “I think we should let him stay. For Thor’s sake.”

“Anyone else want to chime in?” Tony asked.

“I also believe that we should allow him to remain,” Vision said.

“The only reason to say no is because we hate him,” Wanda added. “It is a compelling reason, but I still will vote yes.”

“Four to one,” Tony said. “Rhodey? Sam? You guys haven’t said anything this whole time.”

“I don’t know,” Rhodey said. “It feels like he’s more your villain.”

“Why is that?” Loki asked.

“What?”

“You weren’t in New York,” he said irritably. “I know who you are, Colonel Rhodes. I expected you to show up, but you never did. Why is that?”

“Oh my god,” Tony cracked a smile despite himself. “You make it sound like he stood you up.”

“I don’t know what that means, but I think my question is perfectly reasonable. What was happening that was so important you couldn’t be bothered to defend your own planet?”

“Have you been wondering this for years?” Tony said, grinning at Rhodey. “Don’t tell him.”

Loki scowled but didn’t say anything further.

“Anyway,” Rhodes said. “Two of the original Avengers voted no, two of them voted yes. I bet Thor would say yes. Are you going to vote, Tony?”

He sighed. “I’m letting this vote happen, aren’t I? I won’t count it, but yeah. I’d let him stay.”

“Then I will too.”

“Does it even matter what the rest of us think, now?” Falcon asked. “Even if we all voted no, it’s four to five.”

“Never said it was a majority vote,” Tony pointed out.

“Well, then. I think that Rhodes’s reasoning is solid. I’d say yes too.”

“Pepper? Happy?”

Happy spoke up for the first time. “It seems like everyone’s saying yes. I’m okay with it.”

Pepper sighed. “As long as he isn’t allowed into our part of the building.”

“That’s a given,” Tony reassured her.

“Then I trust you. I’ll see you later, alright?”

“Yeah, see you,” Tony said. “I’m gonna hang up now.”

“Bye, Tony.”

“Yeah, bye, Tony,” Happy chimed in.

“Bye.”

Once Tony hung up the call, he dropped his softer demeanor and turned back to the group. “Well, that was something. Too bad that I’m only letting him stay if it’s unanimous.”

Loki felt his stomach drop to the floor, and his gaze was drawn to Agent Romanoff. He had let himself hope too soon. This had all been pointless from the start. They had been toying with him.

“To be fair, I thought the majority would say yes, and wanted to be contrary.” She said, meeting his eyes. Then she shrugged and added, “Also, Clint said no.”

Barton shot her a smile, then spoke to Stark. “I won’t be seriously offended if you let him live here. It’s your house.”

Romanoff's eyes met Loki’s. “I change my vote.” She gave him a small, terrifying smile. “I guess all that’s left to say is this: welcome home.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm already working on the second part of this series which will be significantly longer, and I have plans until the end of part three. Thanks for reading <3


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